Door hinge



A'ilg. 12, 1958 w; Li CLIFTON, JR 2,8

' 1 DOOR HINGE Filed Nov 2. 1953 30 22 24 26 3 s I 11 m BY W, W, ATTORNEYS United States Patent DOOR HINGE Walter L. Clifton, J12, Atlanta, Ga., assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Art Metals Company, Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Delaware Application November 2, 1953, Serial N 0. 389,638

1 Claim. (Cl. 16-169) This invention relates to hinges and to hinge assemblies particularly suitable for use with metal doors.

It is an object of this invention to provide a hinge which is economical to manufacture and which may be easily assembled onto a door and door frame, and more particularly onto a metal door and metal door frame.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a hinge which is so mounted with respect to a door and door frame as to provide a rigid and structurally strong attachment of the hinge to the door and door frame.

It is another object of this invention to provide a hinge assembly having a headless hinge pin, with means for locking the pin in position, and with the hinge scconstructed as to permit ejection of the pin when the locking means is moved out of engagement with the hinge pin.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a door hinge construction which is substantially burglarproof when the door is locked.

In achievement of these objectives, this invention provides a hinge in which a headless hinge pin is supported by a plug member in the bottom knuckle of the hinge, with a set screw extending through the knuckle into engagement with the hinge pin for holding the pin against axial movement. The set screw is so located as to be inaccessible when the door is closed, thereby restraining removal of the pin and rendering the hinge substantially burglar-proof. When used with a metal door and door frame, the leaves of the hinge pass through slots in the door and door frame and are attached, as by riveting, to the inner surface of the door and door frame, respectively.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partially cut away, of the door hinge mounted on a door and door frame;

Fig. 2 is a view in section along line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in section along line 33 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a view in horizontal section illustrating the door hinge mounted on a wooden door frame.

Referring now to the drawings, a metal door generally indicated at ll) is provided at its hinged end with a hollow section 12 which is positioned adjacent a hollow metal door frame 14.

A hinge generally indicated at comprises leaves 22 and 24 which are respectively attached to the door 1d and door frame 14. Hinge leaf 22 passes through a slot 26 in side 2% of door section 12 and is rigidly attached by means of rivets 30 to the inside surface of side 32 of the door section which forms the inner or hinge edge of the door. The hinge leaf 24 passes through a slot 36 in the side 38 of door frame 14- and is attached to the inner surface of side 40 of the door frame by means of rivets S ll.

The rivets 30 are of the blind type in which an inner ,stem 30(a) is drawn through a sleeve 30(1)) from the outer surfaces of the end 32 of the door and the side 40 of the door frame respectively in such a manner as to flare outwardly the inner end of the sleeve 30(1)). The outer end of the sleeve 30(b) is provided with a head which is countersunk into the outer surfaces of the end edge 32 and of side 40 of the door and door frame respectively. The outer end of the stem 30(a) is cut off so as to be flush with the countersunk head of the sleeve 3tl(b) and also flush with the outer surfaces of end 32 and side 40 respectively.

The use of the countersunk rivets 30 to attach the leaves 22 and 24 to the door lltl and frame 114 eliminates the need for screws or tapped screw holes in the hinge leaves and mating door and frame surfaces. This permits the holes in the hinge leaves and the mating holes in the door and frame to be straight drilled or punched holes. Furthermore, the manner of attaching the hinge leaves 22 and 24 to the inside surfaces of the door and door frame through the slots 26 and 36 provides a construction in which the hinge is structurally supported by the door and door frame and does not depend for its attachment exclusively on the tensile and shear strength of screws or other fastening means, as in the case of normal door hinge mounting arrangements.

As will be seen best in Fig. 2, the end 32 of door section 12 adjacent the door frame is positioned at an angle slightly less than 96 degrees with respect to the front side 23 of the door section. As a result, when the door lid is in the closed position shown in Fig. 2, the end 32 diverges slightly away from a parallel relation with respect to the outer surface of side 4-0 of the door frame. By inclining end 32 of the door slightly away from a perpendicular relation to side 28, any possibility of jamming of door end 32 and side ll of the'door frame before the door has reached a fully closed position is avoided.

The hinge leaf 22 is provided with an upper knuckle 42, an intermediate knuckle 44, and a lower knuckle 46, while the leaf 24 is provided with an upper knuckle 4-8 which is positioned intermediate knuckles l2 and 44, and a lower knuckle 5t which is p sitic ed betwce knuckles 4-4 and 46. Thrust collar 52 is positioned be- Ween the knuckles and 48 and thrust collar 54 is positioned between the knuckles 4d and 5%. Knuckles 42, 48, 4- an: 553 are provided with axially aligned bores of a dian ter sufficient to accommodate a longitudinally extending hinge pin 5-6. The pin 56 is of uniform diameter for its entire length and the upper end of the pin is not provided with a head, as in the case of the conventional hinge pin but is flush with the upper surface of the uppermost knuckle d2. Thrust collars 52 and 54 are loosely mounted on the hinge pin 56.

The bottom knuckle 46 is provided with a bore 57 of larger diameter than the pin-receiving bores of the other knuckles, bore 57 preferably extending for the entire length of knuckle 46. A metal plug member 58 is received in the bore 57. The plug 53 is provided with a bore 69 at its axially inner end of the same diameter as the pin-receiving bores 4-9 in the knuckles 42, d8, 44 and 5t) in order to receive the lower end of pin 56.

A bore 62 of smaller diameter than the pin 56 extends from the axially outer end of plug 53 and communicates with the bore no of the plug. The provision of bore 6?; permits an ejecting tool to be inserted through the bore 62 into contact with the bottom surface of the pin 56 to aid in removing the pin when desired.

In order to retain the hinge pin 56 in position in the pin-receiving bores of the hinge knuckles, a set screw 64 extends radially inwardly through a portion of the knuckle 46 which faces rearwardly when the door is in closed position and through the plug 58 into contact with the surface of the pin 56. By tightening the set screw 64, the hinge pin 56 may be retained in position so that it does not move in an axial direction. When the set screw is tightened against the hinge pin, the pin rotates with the hinge leaf 22.

The location of the set screw 64 in a portion of the hinge which faces rearwardly when the door is closed, in combination with the fact that lateral access to the set screw is also impossible when the door is closed, makes the set screw inaccessible for tampering when the door is locked, thereby causing the hinge to be substantially burglar-proof. The pin 56 may be removed when desired by first loosening the set screw 64 and then inserting a suitable pin-ejecting tool through the bore 62 of the plug 58, using the inserted tool member to drive the pin upwardly through the aligned knuckles of the hinge.

There is shown in Fig. 4 a modified mounting arrangement utilizing the same hinge previously described but adapted for mounting a metal door to a wooden door frame or to a door frame which is not of the hollow slotted construction adapted to receive the hinge leaf 24 on the interior of the door frame, as in the case of door frame 14. The hinge parts are the same as previously described and the leaf 22 is connected to the interior of metal door section 10 in the same manner as described in connection with Figs. 1-3. However, the leaf 24 is screwed directly into the wood of the wood door frame 64 by means of countersunk screws 66 rather than being riveted to the interior of the metal door frame 14 as in the case of the installation of Figs. 13.

It can be seen that the headless hinge pin and its set screw locking means, together with the inaccessible location of the set screw when the door is locked, all contribute to provide a substantially tamper-proof hinge construction of great practical utility. Furthermore, the assembly of the leaves inside of the door and door frame in the manner described provides a structural support in which the hinge does not depend for its attachment exclusively on the'tensile andshear stear strength of screws or other attaching means. In addition to the factors just mentioned, the manner of attaching the hinge to the door and door frame is ideally adapted for factory assembly of the hinge leaves to component door and frame assemblies. Also, the hinge and hinge assembly are economical to manufacture, reducing the former high cost of metal doors and door frames, particularly those made of aluminum, so that aluminum entrances are now being widely accepted in present day construction.

4 While there has been described an illustrated embodiment of the invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to be restricted solely thereto but that I intend to cover all modifications thereof which wouldbe apparent to one skilled in the art and which come within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

A hinge for joining a door to a door frame comprising a pair of hinge leaves, hinge knuckles extending from each leaf in spaced relation to each other for interfitting engagement with hinge knuckles of the other leaf, said hinge knuckles being provided with axially aligned bores, one end knuckle of said hinge being movable and having a bore of larger diameter than the bores of the other hinge knuckles, a plug member positioned in said bore of said end knuckle, said plug being provided for a portion of its length with a pin-receiving bore, and also being provided with a bore of smaller diameter than said pin-receiving bore extending from said pinreceiving bore of said plug to the outer end of said plug for receiving a pin-ejecting means, a headless pin extending through said axially aligned hinge knuckle bores, and into the pin-receiving bore of said plug, and a set screw extending through said one end knuckle and said plug transversely of the longitudinal axis of said pin-receiving bore of said plug into engagement with said pin to retain said pin against removal, said set screw being movable with said end knuckle as said end knuckle moves from an open to a closed position of said hinge, and said set screw being concealed and inaccessible when said hinge is in a closed position and being exposed and accessible when said hinge is in an open position whereby the set screw means may not be loosened when the door to which the hinge is attached is closed but may be loosened when said door is opened.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,618,544 McKinney Feb. 22, 1927 2,032,257 Carmichael Feb. 25, 1936 2,112,782 Lustig Mar. 29, 1938 2,163,323 Howe June 20, 1939 2,435,194 Bigley Feb. 3, 1948 2,536,007 Milner Dec. 26, 1950 2,566,872 Bernhardt Sept. 4, 1951 2,786,229 Carroll Mar. 26, 1957 

